inFECTED
by inFAMOUSpoptart
Summary: It turns out, that lightning bolt didn't quite do the trick. I was comatose in a cryogenic chamber for almost three decades when they brought me out. They needed my help fighting against their own military. Well, I'm tired of helping people. I left New Marais to roam the world outside. It wasn't a month before I was overrun by the infected. I had become inFECTED.
1. Prologue

inFECTED: Prologue

* * *

Some know me as the Demon of Empire City. Others know me as the Savior of New Marais. I like to think of myself as neither. People will go a long way to earn a title to represent themselves. I'd go a long way to be a nobody.

Sure, my opinion now is much different than it used to be, but I'm sick of people recognizing me. I am sick of people rushing to get away, or even rushing to get an autograph.

It turns out, that lightning bolt didn't quite do the trick. It resurrected me, but not to the point I'd appreciate it. I was comatose for months.

The citizens of New Marais thought they owed me for what I did. They thought they needed to step in. As of now, I honestly wish they would've simply let me go. They may not have meant it, but they made me suffer.

They stored my body in a cryogenic room in an attempt to preserve my life. It was the same room where Kuo got her powers.

I'm not sure whether or not Zeke supported this. Surely he fought against the people, knowing I wouldn't want that. Right? I guess I'll never find out.

Twenty-seven years later, after humanity had crumbled, a group of rebels thawed me out. They thought I could help them. Well, you know what I thought? I'm through helping people. I saved them, yet they were going to destroy themselves anyway? It can't be for nothing. Can it?

New Marais was now a struggling quarantine zone. The military strictly enforced curfews and handed out rations. You know what I saw? Hell. These people were practically dead. Just skin and bones.

Some people still saw me as a hero. But some wasn't enough. Most saw me as a monster. A demon.

What's worse is that some new plaque had arisen and caused people to lose their heads. The military lined people up and executed anybody with the disease publicly. I couldn't stand it. I was all alone, thanks to the people of New Marais.

I wasn't going to stay there any longer.

One day, in late spring, I decided to clear out. I had no idea where to go. Anywhere seemed better than here.

It was easy getting out of the QZ. What lay outside was the hard part. Sure, electrical superpowers made it easier than what most people had to go through.

The only problem, was when you cut things a bit too close. You start to get a little too comfortable around the clickers- the people with the disease.

Just when you think you're a total badass that can handle anything, you slip up. That was my one mistake. One wrong move and now I'm sitting here with the disease coursing through my veins.

I decided it was best to just go to sleep. Hopefully it will have taken over by morning. I was done. I was just... done. No more. I had lost so much. First Trish. Then Nix and Kuo. And now, Zeke.

As I sit here in this run down building, I began to reflect on my life. I had done some bad things in Empire. Killed a lot of people. I tried to make up for that in New Marais but it just didn't seem to cut it. I still felt... guilty. I still wished that bolt had never struck me.

I closed my eyes, succumbing to sleep. It's difficult to do so when you know you'll have mushrooms growing in your head by morning. Did I mention that? The disease- the cordyceps disease was a fungal brain infection. It caused the fungus to grow out of facial orifices, meaning clickers are blind. They use echolocation to "see."

I'll definitely be having nightmares tonight.

Who am I, you ask? As if I need an introduction. I am Cole Macgrath, and I've been inFECTED.


	2. Ch 1: More Trouble than it's Worth

**Author's Note:** **I'm trying to come up with a better summary as the one I have now isn't particularly interesting. I'm open for any suggestions. Also, surprise guest appearance in this chapter! **

**This took such a long time because I'm trying to keep all of my current stories as high-quality as possible. Quality over quantity.**

*Line Break*

inFECTED

Chapter 1: "More Trouble than it's Worth"

SUMMER

I woke up with a start. My arm was still throbbing from yesterday's incident. I remembered I had hidden in an abandoned apartment building from the clickers. It was a dark and run-down place. Shattered glass and trash littered the floor. The gray wallpaper along the wall was torn in too many places to count. I was sprawled across the sofa, as if I could actually get comfortable in a situation like this.

I had seen many people with the infection before. I know what it looked like in the initial stages of development. Mine looked very different. First of all, my skin didn't turn red around the bitten area. It would soon though if I didn't clean it. I didn't bother cleaning it last night since I had expected to be gone by morning.

Something felt odd, though. Most say they experience a horrible pain around the infected area. Mine didn't hurt half as bad as some injuries I had gotten in the past. Another thing, I felt drained. I couldn't even make a spark in my hands. I could feel the electricity inside me, though. I could feel it gathering around the wound, trying to heal it.

That's right; the electricity also serves as a regenerative power. Normally I'd be fine after getting shot a dozen times as long as I had electricity to heal with. This wound felt different. The infection was infecting me in different ways.

I slowly moved into a sitting position, still examining my left upper arm. Some of the fungus had grown around the bite marks, yet it hadn't spread to anywhere else. What I assumed was that the electricity was simply holding off the infection. The infection was tough, so it couldn't be healed instantly.

If my theory was correct, I needed electricity. _A lot_ of electricity. But where do you find that much power when the world has turned to ruin? With more than sixty percent of the population wiped out, people have stopped doing their jobs. There's very little electricity in this world.

I suddenly heard a knock at the door, which was odd since I was probably the only sane person within miles. I turned my attention from my arm and slowly got up from the couch. I don't know what I was expecting. Clickers couldn't knock, could they?

I ever so slowly reached forward to open the door. Making sure the wound was completely covered by my short-sleeve shirt; I grabbed the handle and prepared myself for the worst, then flung it open. Before me stood an old man, probably in his mid-forties, pointing a revolver at me.

Normally I wouldn't have flinched, but I had no idea if my powers could heal me with the infection still in my body. I held my arms up over my head.

The man slowly lowered his weapon. "I assume you're not infected," he said.

It must've been the fact that the infected had no self-control. With me opening the door after hearing a knock and not lunging at him on sight it was easy to guess that I wasn't infected. Or was I?

The man holstered his weapon. I took the moment to take in his appearance. He had short, dark brown hair and a clean shave covering his chin. He wore a gray T-shirt, with the words "Naughty Dog" written across the front. I didn't question it. You wore what you found. He also wore blue jeans and a back pack.

"I saw you come in here last night," he began. "I didn't know if you were infected or not." He leaned into the door frame awkwardly. "They're a lot easier to kill when the disease just starts up."

I nodded in understanding. If I had turned last night, he would've come to kill me.

He held out his hand, which I eyed suspiciously.

"The name's Drake. Nathan Drake."

I cautiously shook his hand. He seemed like he was okay upstairs.

Drake nodded, as if accepting my approval. "There's a nest filled with infected not too far from here. I would suggest you move. Immediately." He gestured with his head at the window on the far side of the room.

Oh, crap. I ran across the room, jumping over part of the couch. My window had a perfect view of the sunrise, which cast long shadows from the infected roaming outside. Not good. At second glance, I noticed that they weren't roaming. They were tracking.

They moved along the same path that I had taken last night. They were led by the trail of blood from my wound. Some of them were already going into the entrance of the apartment complex. Who knew how many were already inside, walking up the stairs?

I felt Drake standing at my shoulder as I just stood there and stared in disbelief. "I know a quarantine zone not too far from here. You could take refuge there."

I didn't want to see a quarantine zone ever again after leaving New Marais. They would have to scan me for the infection as well. A QZ was something I needed to avoid. But a horde of infected was _also _something I needed to avoid. Right now, we just needed to get away from here.

"Take me there," I said. I'll cross the next bridge when I get there.

Drake was already bolting for the door. "Follow me and stay close," he commanded.

Stay close? Ha! I have- Oh. Well, I _used_ to have electrical superpowers. I think I can handle myself. Deep down I wasn't so sure. I still couldn't feel the power within me. Maybe it just needed time.

Before I ran for the door, I knelt down to feel under the couch. There it was. It was the amp, right where I had left it. I guess I wasn't in my right mind when I woke up, since I didn't reach for it as soon as I heard the knock on the door a few moments ago.

I hooked it to a strap on the back of my shirt. Even if it couldn't amplify my powers as it used to, I could still make a clicker's head cave in with it. I got to my feet and dashed out of the room. I saw Drake to my right, nearing the end of the hallway connecting the apartments.

I ran in his direction, sparing a glance behind me to see the infected at the opposite end of the hallway. Damn, they were fast. Ahead of me, Drake opened a window and climbed outside. Was he serious? He was five stories high and just climbed out of a window? Well, I did crazy parkour even before I got my powers. I just didn't expect this older guy with less mobility to be able to do that.

Without powers I had grown vulnerable. I had grown so used to having them those years that I forgot what it felt like to be normal. If I fell by whatever cause, I couldn't rely on static thrusters to slow my descent.

I finally reached the window and climbed out. The majority of colors outside were gray, like it had always been since I woke up. Even the sky had a gloomy overcast, blocking out most of the sun's light.

The ground beneath me seemed much farther down from this perspective. I slowly moved along the thin foothold to my right. I could practically see it crumbling beneath my feet after countless platforming video games I played with Zeke. _Ugh, memories._

"What are you waiting for?" Drake called from above me. I looked up to see him on the roof of the six story building. I didn't question it. Some of the infected were trying to follow us outside. They had no patience, so most of those who tried were pushed off by the ones behind them. They fell to the ground with a click and a thud.

I turned around, reaching up over my head to grab the ledge above me. I jumped, and pulled myself up the rest of the way with my arms. Now on the sixth story, I was able to grab Drake's extended hand. He pulled me onto the roof, which seemed safe. It wasn't crawling with infected, at least.

I thought too soon, as infected soon burst out of the rooftop entrance a few yards away. "Run!" Drake called, even though the action was extremely obvious. I was tempted to make a sarcastic remark. He started running away from the infected. Instead of running myself, I brought out the amp and started swinging.

Clickers and runners were flung left and right. It was easy to hit them when they were all coming from the same direction. The stunned ones to my left or right would soon get up and I would be overrun, though. I decided to follow Drake. That helped to blow off some steam, anyway.

I ran, but where was Drake? I suddenly didn't see him anywhere. Just when I prepared myself to jump across an alleyway and onto the next rooftop, I heard Drake from… above me? I looked around, wary of the infected closing in.

"Up here, kid!" I followed his voice until I saw him. He was somehow scaling a nearby skyscraper. How was I going to get up there? He pointed off into the east. "That way to the Quarantine Zone." He turned away from me and continued climbing.

_What?_ I thought. The building he was climbing seemed to be flat all the way up. Unless he had some sort of suction cups on his hands I had no idea how he was doing that.

I honestly didn't blame him for leaving me, since we had just met a few minutes ago. You had to be careful of who you trust.

I turned and jumped just as a clicker neared and tried to grab me. The gap between the buildings was only a few feet across, so I made it easily. I turned around after regaining my balance to see the clicker stumble over the edge, not even coming close to reaching the roof of this building. Either their echolocation still has quite a few flaws or that clicker was particularly dim. Some of the other infected ran up to the ledge behind him.

I looked back to the skyscraper to see that Drake was nowhere to be seen. Huh. _What a mysterious character. _Perhaps he had fallen? I shrugged it off. I was not gonna wait around for one of the infected to make that jump.

*Line Break*

I sat on the rooftop of yet another building, overlooking the QZ. It was easy getting here. I just had to make sure to stay away from any signs of infected. Spore clouds weren't a worry since they were only clustered harmfully indoors where they can't disperse into the air. I wasn't sure if I could be harmed by them anyway, since I was already _sort of_ infected.

The sun would set soon, rushing my decision. The walls towering around the city made it look darker than the surrounding areas. Do I go to the QZ? How would I get past the guards, anyway? My first idea was to use static thrusters and glide over the wall from a tall building a few blocks away. I remembered that I had no power. It looked like the wound had gotten worse, too.

Maybe if I absorbed enough electricity, it would keep the infection further at bay. Hopefully, I would also regain control of my powers. _Hopefully._ But where do I look for electricity around here? Maybe I could find some form of power. There was no guarantee, though. It was likely that the QZ's military had already scavenged anything important from the surrounding area.

It was likely. It wasn't a _one-hundred_ percent chance that they had used all the supplies. After living in this post-apocalyptic world for a few months, I learned that any chance is better than nothing. Thinking logically, it would be best to look in the same building I would glide from. If my powers would be using the extra electricity to heal the wound, I might need to hurry and glide to the city before I ran out of "fuel."

If I couldn't find a working electrical source in the building, I would just spend the night somewhere inside and resume my search in the morning. _Flawless plan, right?_

_I've rested enough_, I thought, standing up. Jumping over alleyways wasn't exactly easy, even though I had prior experience. I've got a lot roof to cover.

…And by the end of the journey, my legs felt like jell-O. I was so tired, at one point I almost didn't make a jump. There was also one time where I had to use a nearby ladder to cross the gap, as it was too far to cross regularly. Maybe I was pushing myself a bit too far. I had been lucky though, not running into any infected on my way. I didn't need to sit around and let that luck run out.

Towering before me was a run-down office complex, maybe forty stories high. It would be plenty high enough to glide all the way to the QZ. _If my powers worked, that is._

I climbed down from one of the buildings surrounding the skyscraper with ease. First, I went as low as the fire escape could get me. I then jumped to a dumpster placed so conveniently below.

I didn't waste what little sunlight I had left, running as swiftly and softly across the road as possible. For all I knew, the infected could have been following me since I split up with Drake. I briefly wondered if he had gotten away. He seemed like he had things under control, but him disappearing so quickly unsettled me a bit.

Back to the matters at hand. There was nothing blocking the entrance to the tower, which was both good and bad. I made my way inside, making sure to close the door behind me. The good thing about this was obvious. I could get inside with no struggle and no chance of infected creeping up on me while trying to break in.

The bad thing made me rethink this entire plan. The door was unlocked, meaning anything could get in. I'm not sure if clickers can open doors very well, but I might be heading straight into a nest full of them.

Inside the building was a ruined lobby. But hey, was there anything _not _ruined these days? The sun's setting rays shining through broken windows on the right side of the room offered faint light for my straining eyes. That reminds me. I need a flashlight. But not now, since time was of the essence.

I had to get to the QZ as soon as possible as I could practically feel the infection growing worse with every passing second. I found the door that led to the stairwell and ran inside. There was of course no windows in here so the room was pitch black, aside from a bit of light from the lobby.

I was able to locate the steps after my eyes slightly adjusted to the dark. I began my ascent. Along the way my eyes adjusted even more, slowly but surely. This continued until I was almost out of breath and had developed natural night-vision. It wasn't as good as having a flashlight, but at least I could see a wall before I bumped into it.

Once I could no longer continue, I stopped next to a door to one of the many floors of the building. Running my hand along a square on the wall near the doorframe I found that it read "32." I wiped my hand on my jeans as they picked up a lotof dust from the small sign. Then I opened the door, walking into the room.

Inside, I saw many posters and designs for appliances and tools. Most of them had the company's name printed on the bottom. It was a corporation called "Suckah Pawnch." Up here on floor thirty-two, the sun was still setting. I had a bit more time.

I took a moment to catch my breath while walking throughout the room. It seemed to be the kind of place where you would build blueprints for appliances, then ship them off to the manufacturing companies. Or whatever the process was…

There were mainly just private working booths around the room, along with something way out of the ordinary. A camouflaged tent was set up in one of the four corners of the office. The camo seemed pretty darn useless when you were in an office building, since it caught my attention right away.

I walked over to the miniature camp. As soon as there wasn't a bunch of stuff obscuring the sight, I saw a corpse in the opened tent which unsettled me deeply. I might as well scavenge, though. I knelt beside the tent.

There wasn't much outside, so I held my breath and took a peek inside. The corpse was lying along the back wall. Whoever it was, they must've suffered a fatal chest wound, because they died clutching their upper-right chest.

There was a bit of random trash scattered around the tent, along with a heavy looking backpack to the left of the door. I took the backpack and put it around my back after rearranging the amp. I would look inside later. Hopefully I would find some useful supplies inside.

I noticed a yellow wire stretching across the floor of the tent. Following it further inside, it ran up to be held in the corpse's hand, along with a note. I carefully took it out of its hand and read it. The text was faded, but it was readable.

"_To anyone who may find this,_

_If you've yet to turn, then I wish you good luck. Follow this chord for something useful. I obviously have no need for it anymore._

_-The Anonymous Helpful Corpse"_

Wow. That was something. Instead of discarding the note, I slipped it into my jeans pocket. Something just told me to hang on to it. It wasn't as if it was going to help me later on. It just felt like something to do to show my appreciation. That is, _if _whatever the "useful" thing was is actually useful.

I took the chord from the corpse's hand and stood out of the tent, taking a deep breath. The chord would fit perfectly into an electrical outlet. _Could this mean…_?

I began following the wire, coiling it up as I went along. After a few turns around desks and office booths I found that it led back to the stairwell, going up. It was obviously still dark in the stairwell, so I would have to be led almost entirely by the wire.

I walked slowly, still coiling the wire as I went along. I lost count of how many flights of stairs I had climbed when the chord took off in a new direction. It led into the thirty-seventh floor.

I had seen no signs of clickers yet, but I still kept quiet. Stealth was my favorite option when I didn't have my powers.

There wasn't much point at determining what the room was once used for. I didn't really care about much outside my current task. There were office cubicles in rows along the room, much like how floor thirty-two had been. I weaved through them, coming to a stop at one where the wire snaked into.

There wasn't much to see in the cubicle, aside from a jug of gasoline and a generator beneath a desk. I threw my arms up in disbelief and appreciation. Seriously, what were the odds?

The chord wasn't plugged into the generator. Instead, it was heavily taped to the ground right next to it. It's not like I was going to need it.

_Thank you, 'The Anonymous Helpful Corpse,'_ I thought. You had to love people who were both funny _and_ helpful, though it did feel strange that the guy had taken his death as such a joke. Either he was a determined comedian or was at least partially insane. I'd put my money on the latter.

I stood up and grabbed the handle attached to the generator. Quarantine Zone, here I come. I gave the chord a tug, but it didn't start. I tried again. This time, it roared to life. All previous intentions regarding stealth were thrown away.

I put my hands on the generator and sucked in the electricity. It felt great. I couldn't remember the last time I had absorbed this good of an amount. Looking to the wound on my upper left arm, I saw that the swelling and fungus slowly went away.

Once I had gotten it all, I did what any conduit would do. I formed a small ball of the electricity in my hand. It wasn't anything that would use up my energy, it was just enough to show that I had my powers again.

Suddenly, I heard a clicking sound echo from the stairwell. A few moments ago I would've ran to hide somewhere, but not now. I had access to my powers again. _Bring it on._

A lone clicker staggered into the room. I chuckled a bit at how little a threat is was to me now, alerting it to my position. But you know what? I didn't care. It heard my voice and let out a growl, followed by more clicking. It ran up to me, but before it could get to close, I sent a magnum bolt straight for its head.

I'll just say that the room was now littered with bits of mushroom. I began towards the stairwell with a grin, but stopped moving as I heard much more clicking coming from farther down the building. I ran into the room, leaning over the railing next to the stairs and looking down.

I couldn't see anything, but I sure as hell could hear it. What sounded like dozens of infected were swarming up the stairs. I might've been able to take them, but I still had to glide to the QZ. I didn't want to unnecessarily use up any more energy.

I turned and ran up the steps, and as soon as I did, I realized that the infected were much closer than the echoing had led me to believe. They were less than one flight of stairs below me, if even that far.

Before I knew it, I burst out of a door on the building's rooftop. It was dark. No more sunlight. Before I could figure out which way to run, a runner grabbed me from behind. They always had to complicate things.

I sent a jolt of electricity through my body, stunning the runner and allowing me to break free easily. As I ran forward, I heard the other infected swarming onto the rooftop. Running to the opposite end of the roof, I saw the QZ was actually to my right. …Must've gotten turned around in the stairwell.

I made a sharp ninety-degree turn and neared the edge of the building. I could hear screaming and clicking behind me. For a brief moment I was reminded that runners hadn't been infected for very long. What if the screaming was caused by the person trapped inside as they struggled against the effects of the disease? I internally shuddered, then jumped.

Looking down, I saw the street so far below me. A second passed where I feared I wouldn't be able use my static thrusters. I concentrated on the energy within me and focused on transferring it to my hands in powerful, continuous bursts. To my satisfaction and relief, bright gray electricity surged through my hands, lifting me a few feet higher and allowing me to glide.

I didn't look back to see the infected. After that chilling thought I had a few moments ago, I didn't want to look at them. Instead I looked to the Quarantine Zone. _Almost there,_ I thought.

I should've expected things were working out far too well, because my static thrusters suddenly cut off, causing me to drop a few feet before they came flickering back to life. _Uh oh._ _I don't have enough energy. _I felt it being sucked from my body at a much faster rate than usual.

There was absolutely no way I could make the remaining distance with what little power I had left. I sighed as I realized that all that climbing might have been for noting. Now my only worry for the moment was getting down without dying. And I had a crazy idea on how to do so…

I let myself drop; conserving the few morsels of power I had left. Now in freefall, the wind blew hard against my body, causing my eyes to tear up as I strained to see how far I was from the ground. _Pretty close,_ but I had to time this just right. It was unnerving to think that I might be anticipating my own death.

_About five stories high. Four, three, two, one. _With all my remaining power, I sent a concentratedblast downwards. With nothing but gravity to help against kick, the blast broke my fall, reducing the drop to about twelve feet.

I landed with a thud. For a while I just lied there, thanking Drake for sending me to a QZ that was more trouble than it was worth. What was I even going to do once I got inside? I only moved when I heard the sound of a vehicle engine nearby. Sitting up, I saw bright lights flashing in the distance. It looked like they were getting closer.

I got up from the street and ran to a nearby store, jumping through a broken window and hiding behind a mannequin. Back on the street, S.W.A.T. trucks drove by. Spray painted along the side of each truck was the word, "_Boston."_


End file.
